Purpose

Dental Corporation is committed to adopting the highest standards to safeguard our staff members (employees and contractors) and our customers’ personal information. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines to help our staff understand their obligations regarding privacy of information for our staff members and patients.

Policy

When you are employed by Dental Corporation we need to collect personal information from you. We use this information to:

  • Employ and pay you
  • Notify your next of kin in the event of an accident
  • Notify our insurance company for any workers compensation claims
  • Notify WorkCover and other government departments in the case of an emergency

Disclosure of your Personal Information

It is our policy not to sell or pass on any personal information that you or a patient may have provided unless we have your expressed consent of the person to do so. An exception to this is where Dental Corporation may be required by law to disclose certain information.

We will only share the information provided to us with people who need your information for the purposes specified above. The following are examples of when we will share such information:

  • Your nominated relatives
  • Company insurance companies, any medical or rehabilitation providers and case managers
  • Law enforcement agencies

We will not provide information to:

  • Agencies for the sole purpose of selling or providing unsolicited services that are not directly related to your employment
  • Any person who may contact us asking for your personal details

Personal information of our patients

The care of our patients is important to us. Consent from patients is required before any personal information may be collected or any information about patients is disclosed to other sources.

A request for information from any external party is preferred in the written form and should be addressed to the doctor concerned. This allows for the correct information to be collated and provides a record to be kept on file.

We all need to be mindful when liaising with patients that we do not accidentally disclose personal information to others. The following examples are for guidance rather than being the only situations that may occur. Please discuss further examples with your practice principal or practice manager.

In a public reception area we need to be careful not to disclose personal information, such as patients’ health matters, treatments or finances, to others.

When calling patients over 18 years of age, either to book or reconfirm appointments, we must speak directly with that patient and not discuss anything with any other person who may answer the phone.

Contact

We welcome you to discuss any concerns you may have regarding the handling of personal information with your practice principal or practice manager.

Members of our HR team are also available as appropriate.